Ling, Lee pardoned in North Korea, reports say

New York, August 4, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes media reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has pardoned and ordered the release of imprisoned journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee after former U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived in Pyongyang today.

"Kim Jong-il issued an order ... granting a special pardon
to the two American journalists who had been sentenced to hard labor," the BBC and other
news outlets quoted the official Korean Central News Agency as saying. On June
8, a court sentenced the Current TV journalists to 12 years' labor for
illegally entering North Korea
and committing unspecified "hostile acts" while reporting near the border with China.

"We
welcome the news that Euna Lee and Laura Ling will be pardoned and released
after more than four months in detention," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert
Mahoney. "This has been a long and complex process given the situation on the
Korean peninsula. We thank former President Clinton for his intervention and we
are grateful that the North Korean authorities have responded to appeals for
clemency. We know that the families of these two reporters will be relieved to
have their loved ones back home."

North Korean media announced Clinton's surprise arrival in the capital early
this morning, according to international news reports. He met with North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il for dinner, the reports said. White House spokesman Robert
Gibbs characterized the trip as a private effort on behalf of Ling and Lee, and
not an official diplomatic mission, according to the reports.

North Korean border guards arrested Ling and Lee more
than four months ago while they were preparing a report on North Korean
refugees escaping to China
for California-based Current TV. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appealed
to North Korea
to show leniency in July.